Contract Management And Control Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement with National Grid, I was able to see many different sides to the business and had the chance to spend days seeing what other departments outside my role did in order to fully appreciate processes and to see the bigger picture. I was given work that matched my abilities and interests but also challenged me to learn to skills and increase my knowledge of the industry.

I felt like a valued member of the team. The work I was doing was worthwhile not only to me but also to the company and I was able to bring to the team my knowledge and impart it on them as they did with me. Another way in which I felt values was because my opinions would be taken into account and not disregarded.

When I started my placement at National Grid I was given a lot of informal support, which included checking in with my line manager on a regular basis, but as I settled and was given more responsibilities it was up to me to decide when I needed support. In addition to this once a month I had a one to one meetings with my line manager, topped up with drop ins whenever I needed assistance. I had quarterly reviews with my line manager and business coordinators.

While on my placement at National Grid my day to day tasks provided enough work to keep me busy but grew as I settled in my role which resulted in being given more responsibility. On top of this I received additional tasks in line with the teams’ work load fluctuations.

At the start of my placement my responsibility was limited, I was shadowing team members in order to build an understanding of the company and started off with administrative tasks. As I proved my skills and my ability, my responsibility grew and by the end of my placement I was given a project that I was responsible for including providing my team with weekly updates.

My work while on placement and my modules at university linked well together and as a result this gave me an alternative way of understanding the business world outside of theory and lectures. I also gained a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses around soft skills. Now I can spend my last year at university working on further developing my strengths and understanding what weaknesses I wish to improve upon.

The atmosphere in my office at National Grid was very friendly and colleagues were supportive. People from within my team and surrounding teams where more than happy to help you when required. But it was also a very fast pace environment, working to deadlines meant that people were often busy.

The placement scheme overall was very organised and structured. There was a clear layout of what the placement entailed, along with set times for reviews and formal paper to help you reflect on your placement. Also, there were clear routes of communication for if you have any worries or concerns.

National Grid invested a lot into the development of student. When I identified areas where I wished to develop I was able to attended out of office training courses. Also the scheme involved spending a few days out of the office at the start and end of your placement which included areas of training around personal development.

If you do well on the Industry Placement programme, you could be fast tracked through to the graduate recruitment process and be offered a place on the graduate programme. This offers a big relief when entering final year of university as you have already secured a job offer and hence have more time to focus on your studies and extra curricular activities.

There was a great social scene amongst fellow placement students and also amongst the graduate programme and other new talent programmes. National Grid hosted a number of networking events throughout the year so regardless of your location you still felt like part of the industry placement programme. There was also the opportunity as a Industry placement student to organised trips to see different parts of the business for yourself and the other industry placement student to increase your knowledge of the industry.

The cost of living was not to bad especially if you made use of cheaper ways to rent such as renting a room. There are plenty of supermarkets in the town centre giving you a choice for household shopping, but there where also limited options for socialising close to the office but as you go out towards the town there is plenty to do such as bowling, shopping, going to the cinema etc.

The night life was quiet lacking, there were odd pubs where you could go to in the evenings but for nights out you had to travel in to the city and transport links were poor and limited during later hours. However there was quiet a choice of restaurants around the town.

There were plenty of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of you day role at the head office but the further out you go the less opportunities were available to you. But you are encouraged to be involved in volunteering. In the local community, separate from work you would have to search for opportunities relating to a certain hobby, for example I found an adult netball team for people of all abilities.